Leyte

Leyte is an island in the Philippines, located in the Visayas island group in the center of the country. Tacloban and Ormoc are the two major cities of Leyte, with the latter hosting geothermic power plants. In 1944, the island was home to two battles of the Pacific War of World War II: on 20 October 1944, US Army general Douglas MacArthur and his army invaded the island of Leyte, while the US Navy fought the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history. Both were astounding US victories, leading to the liberation of the Philippines from Japanese occupation. In 2015, Leyte had a population of 2,388,518 people.